23 sites and 9 structures within the district, most of them used for farming. Of these 117 resources, all but 29 are contributing properties to its historic character. Four of the farms and one former estate have been individually listed on the National Register. History What would become Coleman Station took a long time for Europeans to settle due to land disputes between the colonies of New York and Connecticut. The current boundary was resolved in 1732. Even after settlement began, the pace was slowed by war. In the early 19th century farming finally developed, moving from a diverse pre-industrial agriculture to a more specialized focus on milk production after the railroad and industrialization. Farming survived the decline of the railroads in the late 20th century. Newcomers to the region saw its historic value and fought a precedent-setting court battle in the last years of the century to publicly recognize and preserve it. Since then agriculture in the district has once again begun to diversify. 1731–1771: Early settlement Tradition has it that the area, like much of the Harlem Valley in eastern Dutchess County, was thoroughly cleared and cultivated by Native Americans before European settlers arrived. That took later than usual due to the land dispute between the colonies of New York and Connecticut. Few settlers built homes in the borderland known as the Oblong until the 1730s, when the two colonies agreed that the Panhandle, where Greenwich, Stamford and New Canaan are now, would be part of Connecticut while New York got the Oblong. The agreement allowed for Connecticut landowners to continue to hold title in the Oblong, in order that they would have an incentive to pay for an overdue survey of the land. Even with these issues resolved, and land apportioned, sold and subdivided, there was still little settlement of the area throughout the mid-18th century. Indians, who had found the area a desirable place to settle while its legal status was unclear, established villages in the area, giving Indian Lake its name. Their presence in the area is recorded as late as the 1750s. Most areas of the Harlem Valley were difficult places to establish farms due to the minimal amount of arable land. The area later to become Coleman Station was an exception. Settlers coming west from New England found its alluvial soil ideal for farming. One family, Nathan Wheeler and his son Elijah, of